Bring up the Virginia football team’s offense this offseason and the conversation almost always turns to who will succeed Bryce Perkins at quarterback. Brennan Armstrong, the backup the last two seasons, is the presumed front-runner and Mississippi State transfer Keytaon Thompson committed to the program in the spring to bolster the depth and competition at that position.

It’s easy to understand why there’s so much attention on the quarterback heir. Perkins finished his Cavalier career as one of the all-time greats in the orange and blue. He set the UVA career record for total offense with 7,910 yards over two years in the program. He also set the program’s rushing record for a quarterback with 1,692 rushing yards.

In 2019, he carried an enormous load for the offense. He finished with 4,307 total yards that included the program’s single-season passing record of 3,538 yards and 769 rushing yards. He accounted for 33 total touchdowns (22 passing, 11 rushing) too. Those numbers add up to 94.4% of the passing yards, 45.3% of the rushing yards, and 58.9% of the touchdowns. He accounted for 95.4% of the passing attempts (495) and 51.4% of the rushing attempts (227).

So, yes, preparing the next quarterback is a major question for the Hoos as they enter the 2020 season and the fifth year of the Bronco Mendenhall era. That doesn’t mean the Cavaliers are in search of a plug-and-play option to follow Perkins, though. Instead, the offense likely will balance itself out more as the program continues to improve from where things began with Mendenhall in 2016.

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